“It’s nothing short of a miracle. It’s incredible,” Jean Lapierre, Canada’s Transport Minister, said as an investigation began into why the Air France aircraft overshot the runway after landing in an electrical storm on Tuesday, crashing into a ravine and breaking into pieces.

Investigators said that the heavy rainstorm was the most likely cause. But Jean-Cyril Spinetta, the chairman of Air France, suggested that the aircraft should not have been allowed to land in such conditions.

Many of the 297 passengers and 12 crew, including seven Britons, could not understand how they had survived a crash that had reduced the Airbus A340-300 to a charred wreck, consumed by a massive fireball and frequent explosions.

Less than two minutes after Air France Flight 358 from Paris crash-landed at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, overshooting the runway by 200 metres, the crew had evacuated the plane. Mike Figliola, the airport fire chief, said that three quarters of the passengers escaped the wreckage in the 52 seconds that it took for emergency crews to arrive.

As the co-pilot jumped from the cockpit window, dozens of passengers rolled down escape chutes or jumped through holes in the fuselage. They scrambled up mud banks, running and waving their arms. Many ran on to Highway 401, Canada’s busiest road, to flag down cars and ask for help.

Witnesses said that the aircraft was struck by two lightning bolts seconds before it touched down at 4.03pm on Tuesday. Passengers at first applauded the pilot for landing.

John Abedrabbo, 32, said that he heard a sound like a tyre exploding and that the aircraft began to swerve. “We saw the left engine shoot up in flames, red flames. At that point, I became very scared. I didn’t want to die today.”

Olivier Dubois, another passenger, said: “We held on to our seats and started to see flames on our right and left. The light became very, very yellow by the fire’s flame and we said we were all going to die at that moment, and the airplane continued to roll.” Thick smoke filled the cabin and one wing of the aircraft became stuck in trees as the fire spread. Mr Dubois said that the crew opened the emergency exits immediately. “There were a lot of flames,” he said. “We just tried to escape, sliding from the plane and running into the countryside. There was a lot of panic. There was a lot of smoke.

“We were all running like crazy. Everybody was jumping as fast as possible and running everywhere, because the fear was the plane would blow up.” He added: “A minute longer on the plane, we would have suffocated. I think if I was late, I would have died because of the explosion.”

Eddie Ho, 19, from South Africa, said that seconds after the plane left the runway “it started falling apart. Bags were flying down. An announcement came on, the captain said ‘Everything is fine, remain calm in your seats’. That’s a crazy announcement, if you ask me.”

As the fire spread, Mr Ho said: “People were tripping over each other, climbing over the seats to get to the exit.” He said that a member of the crew told him to jump from the front door without using an escape chute despite the 12ft drop. He ran to a second door instead. “I jumped and fell on to some people. Some people broke their arms or legs.” Officials say that 44 passengers were injured.

Gwen Dunlop, another passenger, said: “We were just thrown into the weather. We were all trying to go up a hill. It was all mud and we lost our shoes. People were just scrambling, people with children.”

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